Confident in his balky hips, Napoli eager to get back on field

FORT MYERS, Fla. -- There were times this winter where it seemed like Sunday would never come for Mike Napoli, when the focus wouldn't narrow back down to baseball.Boston's new first baseman arrived at...

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By
TIM BRITTON
Posted Feb. 10, 2013 @ 4:51 pm

FORT MYERS, Fla. -- There were times this winter where it seemed like Sunday would never come for Mike Napoli, when the focus wouldn't narrow back down to baseball.

Boston's new first baseman arrived at JetBlue Park on Sunday, culminating an arduous offseason that included protracted free-agent negotiations with the Red Sox. Napoli, of course, originally agreed to terms with the Sox on Dec. 3, but his deal wasn't finalized until Jan. 23 because of avascular necrosis (AVN) in his hips.

As he kicks off his first spring training with the Sox, Napoli is confident in the health of his hips and ready to talk more about RBIs and OPS than AVN.

"I don't have any symptoms," he said. "It's something I don't feel. I'm on medicine now, and I have an MRI coming up to see how everything is. We'll go from there and take it day-by-day."

After the mid-December physical with the Red Sox revealed he had AVN, Napoli did back off some of his workouts to limit impact on his hips. Overall, however, he has been able to perform most baseball activities in spite of the condition.

Both Napoli and his doctor, Joseph Lane of the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York, are confident that the condition was caught early enough to prevent it from worsening. Lane said last month that Napoli should go through ďa healing phaseĒ in the hip soon enough.

The period between his initial agreement with the Sox and the final one was stressful, Napoli admitted -- not just because his contract was in doubt, but also because he didn't know what was wrong with his body.

"I was just trying to figure out what was wrong with me," he said. "I had to see a bunch of doctors, flying all over the country to get different opinions. The first thing was to see where my health was and what I can do. When we figured that out, we were able to talk to teams again, and it came down to signing here."

Napoli said he and Boston never cut off communication. As a result, he didn't doubt that he would eventually wind up with the Red Sox.

"We never really squashed anything. They expressed to me that they wanted me here," Napoli said. "It never entered my mind that I wasn't going to be here.... I always wanted to come here. I'm here now and I'm going to make the best of it."

Napoli hopes the focus can shift off his health to more relevant matters on the field -- for instance, his shift to first base. Taking on what has been his secondary position full-time will be his primary objective this spring.

"I've been out there before. I'm comfortable. It's not like I'm out there on an island or anything," said Napoli, who has played more than 1,000 innings at first over the last three seasons. "But I'll work on it and try to make myself better every day. I'm excited, and it will take a lot more stress off my body being over there instead of behind the plate."

Lane said the move to first should prove very helpful for Napoliís hips. Strangely, it might even help Napoli that his hip problems have taken catching off the table entirely for now. When he first agreed to terms with Boston, the thought was that he might still spend some time behind the plate. Now, he can devote himself permanently to first base.

"It's always easier being in the same position all the time," said Napoli, who will work with third-base coach Brian Butterfield on the infield. "I'm going to come out every day and take ground balls and get comfortable over there and work hard at it. I'm going to try to become the best I can over there and go from there."

As evidence of that, Napoliís defensive numbers at first were their best in 2010, when he played more there than behind the plate. He rated out as above-average that season in both ultimate zone rating and defensive runs saved. He has been below-average in the two years since.